Written answer
Research and Development
937. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the measures taken to boost Ireland's research capacity since January 2025; his priorities for same for the rest of 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53485/26]
Comment on this
My Department secured an overall capital allocation of €4.55bn under the National Development Plan, €2.45bn of which has been allocated to research to expand capacity, modernise infrastructure, and strengthen Ireland’s position in talent development, cutting edge research, and innovation.
In November 2025 I launched INSPIRE, a €750m research infrastructure investment package over the lifetime of the National Development Plan. As well as support for Ireland’s High-Performance Computing capability and Tyndall National Institute, at least €500m will be invested in two funding streams.
Firstly, for local institutional infrastructure, i.e. research equipment that is used routinely within a higher education institution for both teaching and research purposes and, secondly, for shared advanced infrastructures, i.e. bigger-ticket equipment shared across a number of institutions and with external users. Phase One is open and eligible institutions have until 29 July 2026 to make submissions.
A process to procure the next national supercomputer, CASPIr (Computational Analysis and Simulation Platform for Ireland), led by the Irish Centre for High-End Computing in 2027, is also underway. I also recently launched Ireland’s AI Factory Antenna, which will lower barriers to AI adoption and support Irish stakeholders in developing and scaling AI for real-world impact.
In February 2025, I launched the Accelerating Research to Commercialisation Hub Programme to fast-track the commercial potential of scientific research across Ireland. To date, it has enabled the launch of three individual ARC Hubs covering critical strategic areas, with an investment of over €98m.
In June, I launched the new Research Ireland Rinn Network, with seven new Rinn centres that will support 577 research positions, develop over 800 PhDs, and involve 17 research-performing organisations in a coordinated, collaborative national effort of unprecedented scale. The RINN centres will strengthen research excellence, talent and innovation across strategically important sectors.